


A Friendly Reminder

by dsa_archivist



Category: due South
Genre: Drama, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 1999-05-07
Updated: 1999-05-07
Packaged: 2018-11-11 02:30:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11139378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dsa_archivist/pseuds/dsa_archivist
Summary: An enemy of RayV's threatens Fraser.





	A Friendly Reminder

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Speranza, the archivist: this story was once archived at [Due South Archive](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Due_South_Archive). To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in June 2017. I tried to reach out to all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Due South Archive collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/duesoutharchive).

 

A Friendly Reminder

I've always liked a good thriller, almost as much as  
I enjoy writing them. I don't usually write them so sort, so be kind  
. . .

*************************************** 

#  A Friendly Reminder

By L. Samia Lewis

The music was loud, drifting across the building and through the walls. 

The half-wolf whined pitifully, rolling on his back as he gave a look to his sleeping master. The snores continued to fill the room, almost competing with the music. For a second it looked like he might wake up, then simply turned on his back and began to snore even louder. 

A second later the wolf jumped up on the bed and started to lick his master's face frantically. 

"Diefenbaker," Benson Fraser spat, pushing the wolf's face away from his mouth. It took awhile, long enough for Diefenbaker to be sure the man was awake, but the wolf finally jumped back to the floor, looking up with pitiful puppy eyes. 

"Thanks a lot." Fraser squeezed his eyes shut, not yet realizing that it was not yet morning. "You're very rude, do you know that?" He peeked open an eye and caught sight of the darkness. "It's not morning, is it." Diefenbaker gave a small bark, then hid his head. "One a.m.? You woke me up at one a.m. in the morning? I hope you have a good explanation." 

A more insistent bark this time. 

Fraser sighed, sitting up in the bed and rubbing the back of his stiff neck. 

"Let me guess, the music is too loud for you to sleep. Is that it? So, knowing I won't want to share in your misery, you wake me up to put a stop to it. Well, fine." 

He swung his legs out of the bed, staying in that position for a moment before standing up. It wasn't bad enough that the wolf had made him take it for a walk at eleven at night, now it was sending him to do all the dirty work. 

Another bark sounded, more insistent. 

"Yeah, yeah, I'm going. But next time it's your turn." 

The wolf blinked, feigning ignorance. 

As he opened the door, the music became even louder, causing the unwashed glass by the chair to ring with the bass. 

It was bad, Fraser had to admit as he walked down the hall, trying to figure out just how far he'd have to shuffle. It turned out that it was only two doors away, and he could feel a ringing start in his ears as it had in the glass. 

How long had this been going on? Could be for too long, considering just how patient Diefenbaker was at night. It would have probably woken him up soon enough, anyway. 

Fraser rapped on the door as hard as he could. 

"Excuse me." Even though he yelled it, a sudden doubt filled him that it could be heard. Still he tried again, shouting even louder. 

Diefenbaker padded up beside him, still with the puppy face. 

"I suppose you want me to go in turn it off myself? Well, forget it, you're just going to have to find a place that sells ear plugs in your size. Don't look at me like that!" 

A crash from inside the room. Both Fraser and the wolf turned back with renewed interest. Another crash, more muffled than the first, but still audible. Fraser's brow creased as he moved back to the door, trying the knob. The door was unlocked, it turned out. He pushed it open, stepping into the room, music almost deafening. 

"Stay here," he told the wolf, not looking back as he shut the door behind him. A quick scan about the room found the stereo system, speakers taller than Fraser himself. He walked over and cranked down the volume, trying to determine if someone was in. 

"Hello?" No answer. A shiver went up his spine as he looked around him, trying to find some sort of clue as to what was going on. Nothing. He headed towards the bedroom quietly. "You had your stereo up a bit too loud, so I came to ask if you could turn it down a bit." 

A sound behind him. 

"Ah, there you ar-" 

The soft cloth closed over his nose and mouth tightly, the sharp smell filling his lungs. He grabbed at the cloth reflexively, trying to pry it loose. The world went out of focus, the sounds of his own struggling becoming deeper. Finally, his legs collapsed out from under him, and even when the cloth was pulled away from his face he couldn't get back up. 

****************************** 

"Seriously, Fraser, a phone is a lot faster than sending your little doggie here to get me." 

"Wolf," Fraser corrected the detective as he was helped to the couch in his own apartment. "Diefenbaker's a wolf." 

There was a short bark as Diefenbaker agreed with him, jumping up onto the couch and placing his head on Fraser's lap. The two cops who had been milling about until then yell a good-bye, leaving Ray alone to question Fraser. 

The animal seemed concerned, Ray Veheccio noted with some surprised. The eyes had the look of someone who was either afraid, or had gone to the bathroom in some corner of the room. He cast an eye about just in case. 

"Look, that's not the point. Do you realize what happened to you back there?" 

"Well, I would say that some woman jumped me from behind and managed to knock me out with chloroform." 

"You- How do you know it was a woman?" 

"I could detect a faint scent in the air just before it was covered up with the chloroform. Gucci No. 3, I believe. And I could feel -" He caught himself there, closing his mouth. 

Ray sighed. This was going to be hard to explain to a Canadian. 

"You don't understand, do you. She didn't just knock you out. She gave you a warning." He paused, yanking over a chair so that he could sit while going through this. "The person who rents that apartment was away. He's away every Thursday night. She knew that. She knew that you would likely be the first one to go into the apartment to turn the stereo. *And* she managed to separate you from your dog-" Growl. "Wolf. Fraser, she could have taken you out, and that's what she was telling you." 

Silence. 

Fraser blinked, then looked up at Ray. 

"Why?" 

"Why are you asking me!" 

******************************************** 

The night was nice, warm. 

She looked up from her paper, watching the man walk out the building. In his distraction he bumped into a bag lady who was raging down the street. The paper was refolded, slipped back onto the passenger's seat where it had been resting before. 

The man was finally untangling himself from the bag lady, and she sunk deep into the shadows of the car, keeping her breathing to a minimum. 

The night was dark. 

Veheccio was shaking his head as he opened the door to his car and got in. Ten minutes. It had taken ten minutes to explain the situation to the mountie, and he wasn't too sure that he had even been successful. 

With another sigh, he rested his head against the steering wheel, enjoying the cool feel of the plastic as he shut the door. Take a deep breath. He always seemed aggravated when these things happened. He liked to know exactly what was going on, or if that wasn't the case, at least *think* he knew. All was the same. 

His nostrils flared. 

"Gucci No. 3," he muttered, raising up his head. 

The sound of a safety being released stopped him from turning around. Less than a second later, he could feel the cool steel against the back of his neck. 

"Hello, Ray." 

"I'm not speaking to you." 

He could hear her laugh behind him. A young laugh, unchanged over the years. For a second he wondered if it might be some sort of sick prank, but the pressure of the gun on his neck never wavered. Never became less threatening. 

"You don't have to speak," she whispered, too close to his ear. "Just drive. Start the car. Keep your hands on the wheel." Veheccio did as he was told, feeling her reach forward with one hand and remove his gun from its holster. "Good boy. Now just keep going straight, not too fast." 

His eyes narrowed, catching sight of a familiar figure come out into the street from his rearview mirror. 

"I knew it was you. Sandra Katz. As soon as Benny said he smelt Gucci No. 3, I knew it was you." 

"Very astute." 

"But I couldn't figure out why in the world you would want to scare him like that. He's Canadian, nothing to do with your business." 

"He's cute. Are all mounties like that?" 

Ray scowled. "You know, I really don't need to hear this when I have a gun at my head. If you're going to start on that, then just shoot me. Okay?" 

She was laughing again. He caught sight of her blond hair from the corner of his eye. "It's such a beautiful night. Turn left here, head towards the park." 

He did it. 

"Are you going to tell me what all this is about?" 

"Ms. Timmermanis asked me to talk to you. That's all. And the mountie. He's been hanging around, asking questions, finding answers. Timmermanis doesn't need that sort of anxiety, you must understand." 

"Yeah, well he's too stupid to get the point." 

"And you?" The gun twisted. Vecchio remained silent. "I thought so. You know, you're friend probably understands the message a lot more than you are willing to admit. You seem to want to think of him as this pure hero. I don't think he's so ignorant. There's the park, pull over to the side." The car pulled loudly over to the side of the road, next to the curb of the park, and the engine turned off. She leaned forward, and Ray stiffened as he felt her chin rest on his shoulder. "Do you remember this park? I really hate having to do this, Ray, but boy did you piss of Timmermanis." 

"Yeah, well maybe she shouldn't kidnap little kids and sell them for a living. Is that what you were supposed to talk to me about?" 

"Partly. Let's have a walk." 

His hand reached for the handle, then paused for a second as he thoughtfully closed his eyes. "Why in the world did I let you go last time." 

"Because you knew that you couldn't keep me. No matter how hard you tried." 

He winced, opening the door. How long had it taken to get here? Not long. And he had been driving slowly for a change. 

"Just leave Fraser out of this, okay? It's between me and Ms. Timmermanis, that's all. He doesn't know anything." A foot crunched on the grass behind him. "Let him go, I'll go off the case." 

"You're a good friend, I'm sure. You're not a good liar, though." 

He turned around. He knew how she looked anyway. Pale skin, shoulder length blond hair that moved in the slightest breeze. She had not changed from the last time they had met, when he had let her run off for reasons he still didn't understand. The gun in her hand had a silencer on it, he noted. Sandra planned on letting off at least one shot. 

"I guess that's loaded." 

Sandra Katz smiled, not unkindly, then gave a small shrug. There was a bench nearby that she went over to sit on, though her sights never left him. In his head, Veheccio ran through a number of scenarios of escape, came up with nothing worthwhile except waiting it out. 

You're always told never to get in the car, he reminded himself. The reasoning became blurred when it happened though. Then you get out of the car. And it can only get worse. You were somewhere more private. 

"You know, I don't like what she does, either." 

Veheccio raised an eyebrow in interest. 

"What's she got on you." 

A shrug. "More than I could ever tell you. Enough to convince me to come out here and talk to you. I've never forgotten you, you know. It wasn't a show, at first. I didn't know you were a cop - you had me fooled." Her smile widened in memories. "I'm sorry about what happened in the past." 

"And how about now?" 

He hardly heard the sound of the gun being fired. The bullet ripped through his thigh painfully. 

"Yes, about now, too." 

Veheccio crumpled down, teeth clenched and suppressing a scream. His hands gripped at the wound, trying to put pressure on it, slow the bleeding. 

"Damn it!" 

A shadow crossed over him, which he tried unsuccessfully to ignore. 

"You'll drop your investigation on Timmermanis. Next time, I may go for your mountie friend, or maybe even your sister. I can get them both, you know that." "Is that why you went for him, to prove it to me?" 

She knelt down, pressing the gun under his chin. 

"Do we have a deal?" 

Thinking to himself that he was crazy, Ray slowly shook his head. "Forget it. You'll have to shoot me some more." He wince as his head was pushed back, sending with it an explosion of pain that shuddered through his whole body. Everything went bright for a few seconds, and he had to concentrate not to pass out. "Just fire. Kill me here and now, and I won't investigate any further." 

"Don't be an idiot-" 

"That's the only way I'll stop. You kill me." 

Silence. 

Then the sound of padded feet. 

Vecchio didn't open his eyes fast enough as the gun was moved, a yelp following the next quiet shot. Diefenbaker had not been shot, he was sure. The wolf was probably running away. 

He did, however, manage to catch sight of Fraser leaping at the woman from another direction. She almost dodged him, only Ray grabbed at her shirt when she tried to move. Fraser pushed her over, the two struggling on the ground for a moment before she kicked him off. 

Benton rolled as he landed, coming back up in a squatting position, facing Katz. She jumped to her own feet, taking on a defensive stance. 

Ray's fingers curled around the gun, laying on ground, lost in the struggle. 

Fraser shifted his weight, ready to attack again. 

A shot was fired into the air. Loud, the silencer dropping onto the ground. 

Both Fraser and Katz stared at him in surprise. A shout could be heard in the distance. 

Ray turned and faced the woman. It was hard for him to breath, but he wasn't sure why. "Run," he whispered. She stared back at him, unbelieving. "Run. And don't go back to Timmermanis, and don't ever let me see your face again." 

There was no answer. Her eyes narrowed, casting one last glance between the detective and the mountie, then she turned and ran off into the darkness. 

Fraser watched her for a few seconds, until she was well out of sight, then walked over to Veheccio, who was foolishly trying to get to his feet. Diefenbaker could be heard coming back, now that everything was over. 

"Don't stand up," he instructed, kneeling down to get a look at the wound. "It's not too bad, you're luck." 

"Yeah, well it hurts, I don't count that very lucky. Hey, you always carry a first-aid kit with you." 

Fraser raised an eyebrow, wrapping the bandage tightly around the detective's leg. "You never know when it can come in useful. Ray, why did you let her leave? After she did this?" 

A pause. 

"I don't know." 

"Ah." 

"What do you mean, 'Ah?' You think you know why?" 

"I didn't say that, Ray." 

"You didn't have to. I know that tone. And you, little doggie . . ." 

Growl. 

"I'm not calling you a wolf. You ran off." 

"Ray, please, let's get you to a hospital." 

Veheccio sighed, staring off into the darkness. 

"She's had a hard life, Fraser," he began thoughtfully. "I just don't know, Benny. What I just did, letting her go, do you think I'm making her life better, or worse?" 

Fraser blinked, looking off in the same direction as Ray. 

"I don't know," he answered truthfully. "But I can tell you that you're a good friend." 

Veheccio smiled again, as he was helped to his feet. 

"Yeah, that's what she said, too."   
  

THE END.   
  

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